Vela Cygnus
Vela Cygnus is an Ex-field worker and Ex-unspeakable for the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic in the UK. She is also the author of several advanced transfiguration and divination theory articles from prominent journals around the globe (as well as author of the base text for her class), noted academic in the field of Divination, Seers and prophecy and one of the few working Scryers in the UK. History 1978-2019 PLEASE NOTE: ''Everything in this section is OOC ONLY 'until found out in Role Play - the only exceptions are O.W.L and N.E.W.T scores, which can be found in the school records Vela Cygnus was born in 1978 to renowned American wizard astronomer Clerol Cygnus, a pure-blood wizard from a typically dark aligned family, and his muggle-born wife Angora Aeterham. They moved from England to Minnesota to be closer to the last of Clerol's family when Angora became pregnant, shortly after their marriage, due to the dangerous events of the first war occurring in the U.K. at the time. After the first fall of Voldemort, however, they and the remaining members of the Cygnus family moved back to the U.K. to live near the Aeterhams in southern England; this was due to Angora's determination to see her children go to Hogwarts, rather than the American school of Ilvermorny. This caused an eventual bitterness in Clerol towards his wife, which eventually made itself felt on their daughter during her early life. Being so like her mother, he tended to treat her much more harshly and with more distance than necessary, to her Angora's constant disgruntlement. Vela was a generally dreamy sort of girl growing up, using the distraction of her own imagination to evade the sometimes harsh reality in which she lived. Her parents were convinced she was a squib and, while her mother was careful to hide her disappointment, the rest of the magical family made no such attempts with even her father preferring her clearly magically gifted twin brother over her. She was often left overlooked by her father, and consistently put down by his pure-blood extended family who had moved from the U.S. to the U.K. at the insistence of her mother. This surety of her non-magical-ness lasted until just after her tenth birthday when she managed to cause a book shelf to expel its contents in a fit of fear when pinned against it by one of her uncle's dogs. Nothing over much happened of note after that, leaving her to a relatively quiet sort of existence on the fringes of her family's social world until she entered school before the second rise of voldemort in 1989 (several years before Harry would attend), alongside her identical twin brother Voren who was placed into Hufflepuff. Despite being in Gryffindor during Harry Potter's first five years, she had little to nothing to do with him being several years his senior and often eschewing the social aspects of school for the academics. What little interest in the non-academic life she had led at Hogwarts was rejected whole-sale by the end of her 5th year when her twin suffered a tragic accident which unfortunately claimed his life while on Christmas Holiday in 1994. This sudden and traumatic event would shape the following decades of her life and prove a strong foundation for her switch from simply enjoying Divinations to suddenly being driven to study the art. Vela was, while often in a world apart, always gifted when it came to the fortitude needed to pursue academics; this natural sense of discipline applied itself naturally to research and study is what led to her eventual success as a noted scholar in her area. Her keen interest in fully understanding the subjects that came her way earned her a total of 11 O.W.Ls in her fifth year - only one O.W.L away from a sweep of all 12 subjects. Unfortunately she was unable to withstand the load of all 12 subjects and thus ended up dropping one in her fourth year. Despite this, she still managed to achieve 11/12, with only one scoring below Exceeds Expectations. Choosing to complete her N.E.W.Ts in her seventh year, Vela achieved an impressive score of 8 total, with most scores of Exceeds Expectations or better. This score set was one of the reasons she was picked up immediately by the Ministry of Magic when she applied for an internship after graduating in 1996. It was her aptitude for the subject of Divinations (in which she scored 112% on the N.E.W.T) which led to her being placed in the Department of Mysteries where she worked tending to what was left of the hall of Prophecies as one of her jobs until subsequently leaving in protest nearly two years later to join the fight when the second war broke out in earnest in 1998 with the second rise of Voldemort, during which her father was wounded by a death eater who came upon him in their garden one night. The duel was vicious, but both survived. Her Father would eventually succumb to the weaknesses the curse wounds had left in him eight years later in 2016 while Vela was abroad. By 2018 Vela had lost almost all of her family, her mother passing due to an inherited illness that, unfortunately, was too far progressed in the brain itself for medi-wizards to heal in 2017 only a year after her husband. Her remaining extended family had either passed over the years since she entered school or during the second war (the muggle half was only three strong and two perished in one night during a particularly nasty accidental encounter - both sides of her family seemed to possess terrible luck). By 2017 when her mother passed she had only an uncle on the paternal side left, and he eventually passed (being VERY old) leaving the Cygnus inheritance to her in May of 2019. It was during these years of loss and loneliness that she seemed to settle back down in England and began to focus more on finding and mentoring the next generation of Seers (a hard feat to accomplish considering how rare the ability is and how hard to route out the gift of True Sight can sometimes be). This led her to the mentoring of the young Seer Amelia when she entered into internship after graduating in 2018, from whom she learned a great deal about the development of the ability; eventually Amelia learned of another gifted child in need and begged Cygnus to return to Hogwarts to take the newly empty position of Divinations professor, that she might be able to find and help this student. '''(The following two lists of results are ICly available in the records for the Hogwarts examinations for 1994 and 1996 respectively) O.W.Ls * Divinations..............................................O''' * Transfigurations......................................'''E * Charms...................................................O''' * Potions...................................................'''O * Herbology...............................................O''' * History of Magic.....................................'''E * Care of Magical Creatures.....................A''' * Defense Against the Dark Arts..............'''O * Ancient Runes.......................................O''' * Arithmancy.............................................'''E * Astronomy..............................................O''' N.E.W.Ts * Divinations............................................'''O * Transfigurations....................................O''' * Charms.................................................'''A * Potions.................................................E''' * Herbology.............................................'''E * Ancient Runes.....................................O''' * Astronomy...........................................'''O * Defense Against the Dark Arts............E''' Career History '''PLEASE NOTE: ''Everything in this section is OOC ONLY '''until found out in Role Play - the only exception is '''the last paragraph of this section.'' Her career as an academic, researcher and field agent for the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries lasted from her graduating year and the subsequent internship until she left in the late fall of 2020 in order to apply for a job at Hogwarts as the new Divinations professor; her ministry career spanned 24 years and she quit several months before her 25th anniversary. After the second war she returned to the Ministry of Magic and the Department of Mysteries where she studied experimental spells and Divinations (together). It is during this period from 1998-2003 that she began alternating between research, experiments and duties in the Hall of Prophecies (rebuilding after it's decimation in 1996), while forming the beginnings to bulk of her early research papers. In 2003 Vela began working as a field-agent for the Department of Mysteries, and was officially licensed as a Ministry of Magic Scryer, a skill which was pursued with permission as part of her research in the Department of Mysteries. The list of those able to Scry successfully is a small as that for those who have the gift of True Sight - though this skill can be learned it is heavily suggested that it is linked to the gift of Sight, and since it is so rare the research on whether or not blood inheritance has a part is still inconclusive; Vela herself comes from a line which contains at least one Seer, and so it is possible that she was only able to learn this skill because she contained the genetic predisposition. The skill, while rarely ever put to use during her time at the ministry, is one of the reasons she has worked on and off again with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement from 2003-2019. Part of the reason Vela was so widely received among her peers and co-workers was because she had always been an incredibly versatile person in terms of talents and creativity. She could come up with ways to achieve things that no one had thought to do, and make them work to boot. This made her an asset on tricky, difficult, or unorthodox tasks and outings, which eventually earned her an unofficial title as a 'ministry field worker' - which basically meant 'ministry dogsbody, here to help do all the weird things you can't do'. She was frequently loaned between departments as a useful aid during this period for use in tasks as wide ranging as one could imagine; from aiding in the locating of criminals by assisting Aurors when needed in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to keeping tabs on dangerous magical beings and creatures, and even helping the Department of Child Services locating persons (and children) of interest. Once she even helped the Minister of Magic using this skill (he had lost his wand, and she found it in a drawer in an unused office on the third floor of the ministry; no one could explain how it had gotten there). While there is some earlier travelling, the bulk of Vela's research abroad took place during her field work period from 2003-2017. She often stayed with various native cultures, tribes and peoples magical and muggle alike for long periods at a time, returning only when necessary to work at the ministry itself; usually it was on these return trips that she would publish finished research papers. It is also during this time that she is rumored to have damaged a significant portion of the space around her work room in the Department of Mysteries due to a severe mistake in an experiment, sustaining unlisted injuries and disturbing several other experiments nearby. While the reports on the experiment which caused this are classified, it is known that she had a very close call with death. * Amazonian rainforests (2003-2004) * North America (various regions; 2001, 2005-2006, 2016) * Egypt and the Middle-East (2003, 2009, 2013) * The Africas (2002, 2015-2016) * Greece and wider Europe (2011-2012, 2017) * South America (2007-2008, 2011) * Asia (China, Japan, Tibet and India; 2009-2010, 2014-2015) (ICly Known) By 2016 Vela had published several journal articles and one book, which she wrote aiming to alter the common perceptions of Divination practices in the modern wizarding world (this book is now the standard text for any Divination class she teaches). Her published works range from detailing the history and cross-cultural uses of Divination practices to deep research into the magical theory behind the art. It is also during this period that she began spear-heading the circulation of theories such as the use of, and interaction with, 'ambient magics' in the art of Divination, which elevated the art in academic circles from 'defunct superstition' to 'maybe actually legit' (see section labeled 'Published Works' below for a list). List of Published Works *'IC KNOWLEDGE: '''You may use the following section in role play freely.* * '''Cross-Cultural Applications of Modern Divination Practices' (Divination Tomorrow, London Ed., 2015) * The Implications of Modern Magical Theory in Divination ''(Divination Quarterly, 2015)'' * Divination: A Practical Approach to an Impractical Art ''(Wize Academ Publishing, 2017)'' * A Cross-Cultural Survey of the History and Development of Divination Through the Ages ''(The Divining Pool, Westchester Ed., 2016)'' * Tribal Divination vs. Modern Divination: A Comparative Study in Application and Theory ''(Divination Quarterly, 2016)'' * A Study of Asian Magical Theory and Divination Practices ''(The Divining Pool, London Ed., 2017)'' * Advanced Divination Theory: A Supplementary Compendium (Wize Academ Publishing, 2021) Recent History *'IC KNOWLEDGE: '''You may use the following section in role play freely.* 2020-2021 * ''Tri-Wizard Tournament * The Curse of the Golden Frogs causes loss of magic * Apprentice?! * End of the Curse, but with attacks! Vela arrived mid-year to fill the suddenly empty post of Divination professor, having been tipped off that there was a great need for her knowledge by her former apprentice/protege at the ministry. Knowing that at least one student was in the grip of a developing ability they could not comprehend, she quit her post as an unspeakable and was promptly hired by the school. Her expertise were immediately put to use as she found this student and, through out the year, managed to build a close and confidential relationship with them. This proved to be fortunate, as strange happenings at the school had begun to affect the child and, without help or explanation, they might not have been able to cope. 2021-2022 * The Hag attacks and disappearances * The return of the Headmistress and High Inquisitor and their mysteriously odd behaviour * The curse on the Headmistress and High Inquisitor is broken * Ministry sets up for take over by discrediting the Headmistress * Zimelda Zemeckis takes over as High Inquisitor * Student Protests over the Owl Post incident * Students attacked INSIDE the school Over the course of this year at Hogwarts, Vela became more and more distant and distracted, leaving the school on several occasions on some personal leave. In the chaos that reigned this year, her many absences were noted only by those few students who regularly attended her classes. Despite the fierce protection she offered to her protege, and the legal battles fought on their behalf to keep them in school and away from their family, she still seemed to be... distracted. After finally freeing her apprentice and securing her a new home and guardian, Vela seemed to become even more distracted until finally quitting her job with the school by year's end citing a need to resolve some personal, potentially health related, problems. Current Vela's whereabouts over the last year are relatively unknown. While witnesses say they saw her early last September in Hogsmeade, dressed unseasonably light and frivolous and talking to herself, she seems not to have been spotted in the UK since. Several rumors placed her in some fairly exotic locations, ranging from the Amazons to the American wilds. Having neither returned to her previous career at the ministry, nor turning to retirement, it seems the eccentric woman has been renewing her life as a researcher. Some who know her work in the academic world have been awaiting the arrival of a new research paper releasing some findings or other, but they were to be disappointed. In August of 2023 she was seen in Hogsmeade, dressed as usual; rumors from inhabitants say she has returned to her teaching post. Where has she been, and why did she leave? And, suspiciously, she seems to have missed one of the worst years yet, with inferi attacks at the school and a complete ministry take over, those who knew her and her protege surely wondered how she could have left the child alone with no mentor for so long.. What business could have been so pressing? Personality and Traits *'PLEASE NOTE: 'Everything in this section is '''OOC ONLY '''until found out in Role Play* Vela has always been a woman singularly gifted with strong mental acuity and an excellent sense of self-discipline and focus. While she may not have been innately a genius, she always possessed the kind of personal integrity and discipline needed to achieve greatness academically, this pushed her to become an adept researcher. In her early years, this was applied to her studies, in which she habitually tended to show poorly on first attempting to learn something new - but always finished in the top three by the end of the year. Her powerful mental fortitude is the reason why, when she entered into the department of mysteries, disappearing into her chosen career, she was able to develop not only her core subject of Divinations as a working talent in which she was versatile and fully fluent - but also in the related field of Scrying. Traits * Calm * Assertive * Driven * Focused * Highly intellectual * Compassionate * Protective * Empathetic * Almost always outwardly cheerful and bubbly * Perceptive * Fiercely loyal * Independent * She's sort of a troll - she can't help but poke at certain personality types * High sense of humour * Strong will and demeanor Magical Abilities and Skills *'PLEASE NOTE: 'Everything in this section is '''OOC ONLY '''until found out in Role Play '''unless otherwise stated'!*'' * Mistress of Divinations (Public Knowledge) * Master Scryer (NOT Public Knowledge) * She has one of the listed special abilities for Mischief Managed (NOT PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE; Even she is currently unaware of this talent - Find out more through RP) * Highly competent Duelist (Public Knowledge) * Secondarily talented in Transfigurations, though not as definitively as Divinations (Uncommon Knowledge) * Skilled with charms (not overly so, but proficient) (Uncommon Knowledge) * Better-than-average understanding of the Dark Arts and Defense against it both from a personal study stand point and from practical learning working with Aurors in the MoM'. '(Public knowledge) * Working knowledge of ritualized magic use and culturally specific practices. (Uncommon Knowledge) * Experience working with complex spells and spell creation. (Uncommon Knowledge) * Skilled dancer (Publicly known but Uncommon Knowledge) Possessions *'PLEASE NOTE: 'Everything in this section is '''OOC ONLY '''until found out in Role Play '''unless otherwise stated'!*'' * Wand: 13", Apple Wood, Unicorn hair; Springy and well tempered, she keeps it in her hat band. * Hats. A LOT of witch hats of every imaginable shape, size and colour. We have no idea where she keeps them, but if you like really big, crazy witch/wizard hats, she has them ALL (or so it seems). Those who pay closest attention have been known to mention she seems to match her hats to her mood, one might always know what shade of crazy she is today by the type of hat she wears, but most commonly she seems to prefer a specific hat similar to one Sila Warrington, her top pupil, wears.(Public knowledge) * One magically self-inking quill, battered looking, which is always stuck into her hat. (Public knowledge) * A magical trunk with several different locking compartments, each opening up to who-knows-what, filled with everything she owns. Literally. Including a small room containing a tiny bed, chair and lamp (and a LOT of clothing everywhere...) - this is obviously where she keeps all of her personal things. She does not unpack while staying at Hogwarts, or anywhere but her own home. * A large wizard's staff which is taller than she is and just barely slim enough for her hand, made of the same wood type as her wand, though it appears much, much older and has a large quartz crystal set into the top end. It has been missing for nearly a year, and she seems not to be too concerned about it, and yet... She asks if anyone who has seen it could either return it or let her know where they saw it last. (P'''ublic knowledge)' * A tiny diary strung on a chain around her neck, magically locked against prying eyes by several spells. Her protege Sila has also been seen wearing an identical one. ('Public knowledge') * A necklace with several stones on it including a few Amethysts and one Charoite in the center of the chain. It, too, hangs around her neck with the journal under her jacket. ('Public knowledge') * Several bracelets which look like they may have come from a child. ('Public knowledge') * A small family fortune, inherited begrudgingly after the death of her last living relative, who could not find any other related heirs and died cursing her name for taking over as head of the Cygnus line. * An incredible amount of personal journals, recounts and books on Seers, divinations and prophecies, as well as countless books on other subjects from noted academics all over the globe - many of them signed by those authors still living. Relationships *'PLEASE NOTE: ''Everything in this section is '''OOC ONLY '''until found out in Role Play '''unless otherwise stated!*'' Family * Angora Cygnus - Mother, deceased in the year 2018 * Clerol Cygnus - Father, deceased 1990's, shortly after she began school * Voren Cygnus - Identical twin brother, deceased 1990's during their time at school. He was in Hufflepuff. * Aurelias Cygnus - Uncle, last known relative, deceased 2019 following the death of her mother. Non-Familial * Sila Warrington - Professor Cygnus' top student and class helper, she also seems to have formed a very close, almost mother/daughter like relationship with the girl. Whatever the cause, Sila has clearly improved dramatically since Cygnus began personally taking an interest in the girl over a year ago upon her arrival, having become more outgoing, confident and self-assured (so remark her friends, the house elves who adore her and some of the faculty). ('Public knowledge')'' Zyggy Quotes Listed below is a collection of quotes from logs saved of RP scenes between Professor Cygnus and various other people she has interacted with. If you have a quote from a scene with her that you particularly like, you may edit this page to add them to the list below. Please note that '''I will delete any quotes added below that are not either directly pulled from RP with this character, or pertaining to her in some manner. '''Quotes about the character are also fine -' but make sure to label who said it! ' * "I will tell you of madness, little one - you create it yourself. In struggling not to become mad, you are driving yourself right to it." ''- Professor Cygnus to ''Sila Warrington ''in her first year, 2021. * “Such fear can eat you alive, dear one. It is this fear, born from a place of understanding that things are not as they seem that plagues you." - Cygnus to Sila * "Sometimes the hardest friends to make are the best ones we will ever have." ''- Professor Cygnus to Sila Warrington in her second year, 2022'' * “We cannot stop living, breathing, being and fighting, for the fear of pain for others. It will surely happen, and when we least expect or want, if we are not moving ever ceaselessly forwards." - Cygnus to Sila * "Sometimes terrible things must happen to good people, to shape them for greater things." - Cygnus to Sila Rumours, Whispers and Ponderings * Witnesses say they saw her just before her disappearance in September 2022 in Hogsmeade, dressed unseasonably light and talking to herself, she seems not to have been spotted in the UK since then. * Several rumours placed her in some fairly exotic locations, ranging from the Amazons to the American wilds. * There were some rumours circulating that she had made some important break-through in the realm of Divination while working with her protege, and that she was working on a new article outlining her findings.